A parallel reality game providing a shared virtual world that parallels at least a portion of the real world can host a variety of interactions that can attract a community of players. Providing a virtual world with a geography that parallels at least a portion of the real world allows players to navigate the virtual world by navigating the real world. Linking virtual elements in the virtual environment with real world objects, locations, and actions in the real world can encourage players to travel to and notice features in the real world that the players would normally ignore. Providing virtual elements in the same location in the virtual world as their counterpart real world objects and/or locations in the real world increases the feeling that the virtual elements are hidden parts of the real world.
A parallel reality game can include game features that encourage players to interact in the virtual world, such as through social interactions with other players in the virtual world and through various game objectives in the virtual world. Certain game features can be provided to more closely link the parallel virtual world with the real world. A parallel reality game can also include game features that encourage players to interact simultaneously in the real world and the virtual world, for example by coming together in a defined geographic area in the real world at a particular time and date, and while together in the real world interacting with each other as well in the virtual world.
Technology exists that enables individuals to cause a computing device to report its location as being different than its true location, commonly referred to as “spoofing” the device's location. Players who use such technology in playing parallel reality games are similarly referred to as “spoofers.” These players can cause problems in these games because spoofing their device locations enables them to access features and events in the parallel virtual world that are intended to be limited to a specific real world location without these players having to physically be present at that real world location. This may cause players who make the effort to go to the real world locations to feel disheartened, and this may give the spoofers an unfair advantage in the game over other players who play the game as intended. Spoofing may also reduce the desirability of the parallel reality game to advertisers and sponsors as spoofers need not visit any specific physical location while playing the game. For example, there is little value to a coffee shop in Vermont in appearing to a player in the game who is physically located in California and spoofing their device's location to make it appear like they are located in Vermont.